


Caution

by Fyre



Category: Black Sails
Genre: Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-30
Updated: 2015-09-30
Packaged: 2018-04-24 04:23:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4905337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fyre/pseuds/Fyre
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some people are too stubborn to take a warning.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Caution

**Author's Note:**

> Given how much Hennessey clearly regretted what he had to do to James (he called him 'son'. It makes my heart hurt how much he cared! He liked and raised and supported this boy and had to do what he did), and how many hoops he must have jumped through for Alfred Hamilton to reduce the sentence from hanging to exile, I wanted to do something with him.

The tick of the clock seemed intolerably loud in the still of the parlour.

It was a grand room, finely-dressed and ornate, but that did not impress Admiral Hennessey in the slightest. He had seen a hundred houses like it, and no matter how well-made the building, it showed nothing of those who owned it.

He tightened his right hand about his left wrist behind his back.

He would have preferred to be anywhere but this house, but it was frowned upon in civilised society to let one of your peers go marching off into a situation that was more than likely to get them killed. 

The doors of the parlour opened, and he turned from the mantle.

Alfred Hamilton raised his eyebrows, clearly as displeased to see the Admiral as the Admiral was to see him. "What the devil is this about, Hennessey? Another of your little sailors running amuck."

"Not so." Hennessey inclined his head politely. The pressure on his left wrist was bordering on painful. "I have in fact heard some troubling news about you, my Lord."

The Earl snorted. "Indeed." He strode over to the cabinet beside the wall, withdrawing a decanter and pouring him a measure of some golden spirit. He didn't deign to offer Hennessey one. He turned around to face Hennessey, swirling the liquid in the glass. "And what, pray tell, have you heard?"

Hennessey studied the man, masking his distaste. 

He could take or leave many of his peers, but there were very few who had driven him to genuine dislike. Alfred Hamilton was one of those people, who believed his fortune and his title meant that he was beyond contempt.

"It is said that you are to travel to the South Carolina Colonies."

The Earl took a mouthful of his drink. "What of it?" he said. "I'm the proprietor of those regions. Should I not take an interest in my own territories?"

Hennessey unfolded his fingers from his wrist, bringing himself to a more formal stance. "I would recommend against it, sir."

"Oh?"

"Particularly," Hennessey hesitated, choosing his words, "if you may be travelling on a vessel bound to pass through the Bahama islands on your way."

The Earl set the glass down. "Ah. So you have been keeping eyes on your little sodomite as well, I see."

Hennessey clenched his teeth and inclined his head. 

Years earlier, the career of one of the most promising young men he had ever met had been dashed by the man before him. It was true that James McGraw had made his own mistakes that led to his downfall, but that did not change the fact that the Earl had been utterly merciless about the whole sorry affair. 

McGraw and the Earl's daughter-in-law were exiled. His son was condemned to an asylum. It was brutal and it was merciless, and McGraw, once destined for greatness in the Admiralty, was stripped of a life he had fought since childhood to achieve. 

For all that he had been forced to distance himself from the man for his folly, Hennessey knew there wasn’t a man in service in the Navy who hadn’t at least a passing acquaintance with sodomy. Had it not been brought to him by the Earl himself, he might have been able to turn a blind eye, but when the Earl produced a witness, Hennessey was forced to remember that this was town, not on some ship in the Indies where such things might be overlooked. 

"I thought it wiser to keep track of where Mr. McGraw found himself," he said, "in case a situation like this might arise."

"Ha! Let him moulder away on his pirate-infested island." The Earl shook his head. "He's stayed out of London, and as far as any of my people are aware, he and that whore have been living on New Providence Island and have not been seen in any other ports."

Hennessey looked down, neatening his cuff. "Sir, I feel I should remind you that you are travelling through an area he is known to reside in, not six months after your son's passing. I have to - again - advise that this may be unwise."

Hamilton looked at him derisively. “You expect me to be afraid of him? A jolly jump-up and shirt-lifter?”

Hennessey pressed his thumbnail against the meat of his forefinger, focusing on the sharp bite of pain to keep him from doing something stupid. “My Lord, I think you underestimate the man.”

“Ha. What the deuce do you think he’s going to do to me? Come dashing off his little island to find me?”

“Quite frankly, sir, yes.”

Hamilton had the glass halfway to his mouth again, but lowered it. “The devil you say?”

Hennessey took a breath, then stepped forward, closer to the repugnant man. “My Lord, when I say you underestimate him, I am not being rhetorical. I saw that man turn on a fellow officer and beat him damned near to unconsciousness for simply insulting a woman of his acquaintance.” He met the Earl’s eyes. “What do you imagine he would do to the man who destroyed his livelihood, exiled him and imprisoned his lover?”

The Earl shook his head in disgust. “And you raised this man from the ranks?” He drained the rest of his glass. “If you are quite finished fussing about like an old woman, I would bid you good day, Admiral.”

Hennessey drew himself up. He had tried, and he knew he could do no more or less than he had. “I simply thought it prudent to caution you in this action, my Lord.” He bowed slightly, as much as was necessary and no more. “I will bid you good afternoon.”

Hamilton grunted, waving him away towards the door.

As he withdrew, Hennessey caught a glimpse of the Earl’s face reflected in the glass. He was frowning intently into his drink.

Perhaps, Hennessey thought, it would be enough.

 

_______________________________________

 

It seemed that the Earl had taken his advice.

He had set out for the Colonies, but as a precaution, he had travelled under an assumed name, to conceal his identity. It had not been enough to save him. Hennessey listened impassively as the letter from Governor Ash was read out to the Sea Lords, relaying the details of Alfred Hamilton’s journey. His last journey.

As Hennessey had predicted, the journey had been a perilous one: the Maria Helene had come under attack by one of the most formidable pirates currently terrorising the Caribbean, and Hamilton and his wife were among the many slain.

“A tragic waste,” Admiral Fenton observed.

“Those damned bastards are getting above themselves.”

Hennessey said nothing. He withdrew as soon as he was able, making his way to his office, where he sat down behind his desk.

It seemed a strange coincidence that the Maria Helene would be attacked. She was carrying a light cargo, deliberately, to keep her from drawing the eye of raiders. The pirates of Nassau were infamous for targeting wealthy traders and merchant seamen. There was no reason for them to go after such a poor prize.

He tapped his thumbs together, frowning at his hands.

It also seemed a strange coincidence that two passengers were slaughtered, while some of the crew survived to tell the tale. From the description in the letter, Hamilton and his wife were found hacked to death in one of the cabins in the hold. They were nowhere near the boarding party. They should not even have crossed paths with the pirates.

And how very odd that they should die in the seas only a few hundred miles from Nassau, the last known residence of a James McGraw, a masterful seaman and brilliant tactician. 

The letter indicated that the attack had been led by Captain Flint, a terrible and brutal force currently cutting a swathe across the Caribbean. He was also the man infamous for bringing the ranks of pirates in Nassau to bear.

Hennessey could not bring himself to shape that thought any further.

God in Heaven, if that was the vengeance McGraw had chosen to take, becoming the very thing that Lord Hamilton vilified…

He ran a hand over his mouth.

Only three people knew the truth of the Hamilton affair: himself, the Earl and the witness, Peter Ash. Now one of them was dead.

Perhaps he was speculating too much, but it seemed damned convenient that an anonymous man on a nondescript ship was slaughtered as brutally as Hamilton had been. McGraw’s temper was legendary and terrifying, but Hennessey could not imagine the amiable boy, the good-natured man, and the respected officer would be brought so low. 

And yet, he thought, turning to look out over the courtyard, when you take everything from a man so cruelly, who could say what he might do?

He sighed.

If it was vengeance, then it was done, and for his own part, as much as the action horrified him, Hennessey could understand.


End file.
